http://news.antiwar.com/2012/05/01/pentagon-tons-of-weapons-stuck-in-pakistan/
The report goes on to say that “thousands of tons” of military equipment, including weapons and vehicles, are “stranded” on the Pakistani side of the border, and that the Afghan military is facing “increasing shortages” because of this.
Koshly insisted there was a thrilling amount of interest in “long-term” investment in Libya, and said that the country was counting on $1 trillion in foreign cash pouring into the nation to rebuild, from the West and from the Middle East.
Pentagon: Tons of Weapons Stuck in Pakistan
Report Terms Border Closure a 'Strategic Concern'
by Jason Ditz, May 01, 2012
Previous attempts to shrug off the closure of the Pakistani border to war materiel seem to be crumbling, as a new Pentagon report warns that Pakistan’s refusal to let NATO use it for supplying its occupation is a “strategic concern.”
The report goes on to say that “thousands of tons” of military equipment, including weapons and vehicles, are “stranded” on the Pakistani side of the border, and that the Afghan military is facing “increasing shortages” because of this.
Pakistan closed the border on November 26, when US warplanes attacked a pair of Pakistani military bases. The border remains closed, andPakistan’s parliament has conditioned its opening on a pledge from the US to stop attacking targets inside Pakistan, including ending its drone strikes.
The White House has ruled out ending the drone strikes, insisting they will continue no matter what, but did say that it is “considering” an apology for killing 24 Pakistani soldiers in the November attack.
and...
http://news.yahoo.com/foreign-guesthouse-attacked-kabul-afp-030300014.html
Two explosions, including a suicide car bomb targeting foreign guesthouses, rocked Kabul on Wednesday after US President Barack Obama paid a surprise visit on the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death.
Smoke was rising from the guesthouse near the Afghan capital's main airport and at least two wounded people were seen, one woman suffering from serious burns, said an AFP photographer on the scene.
The other explosion hit a nearby area a few minutes later.
The US embassy, which neighbours the AFP bureau in Kabul, said its embassy was "under lockdown" and warned staff to "take cover, move away from the windows".
Obama earlier dropped from night skies into Kabul on a brief visit amid secrecy and tight security and signed a deal with President Hamid Karzai, cementing 10 years of US aid for Afghanistan after NATO combat troops leave in 2014.
The explosions were a reminder of the extremist threat that stalks Afghanistan, with the Taliban resurgent a decade after they were driven from power for refusing to hand over bin Laden following the 9/11 attacks.
"Duck and cover here at the embassy. Not a drill - avoid the area," the US embassy said on Twitter.
Karzai said the US pact "is not threatening any third country, including the neighbouring countries, but we are hoping that this leads to stability, prosperity and development in the region".
"Neither Americans nor the Afghan people asked for this war, yet for a decade we've stood together," Obama said at the signing ceremony.
"We look forward to a future of peace. We're agreeing to be long-term partners," said Obama, who later headed home aboard Air Force One after just six hours on the ground.
The pact, agreed last month, sees the possibility of American forces staying behind to train Afghan forces and pursue the remnants of Al-Qaeda for 10 years after 2014.
It does not commit Washington to specific troop or funding levels for Afghanistan, though is meant to signal US foes that despite ending the longest war in US history, Washington intends to ensure Afghanistan does not revert to a haven for terror groups like Al-Qaeda.
But after a war that has cost the lives of nearly 3,000 US and allied troops, maimed tens of thousands more, saw thousands of Afghans killed and cost hundreds of billions of dollars, Afghanistan's future is deeply uncertain.
and...
http://news.antiwar.com/2012/05/01/irrational-exuberance-libya-expects-1-trillion-in-foreign-cash/
Irrational Exuberance? Libya Expects $1 Trillion in Foreign Cash
War-Torn Nation's Economy Minister Raves About Foreign Investment Prospects
by Jason Ditz, May 01, 2012
In Dubai today for the annual investment convention, Libya’s National Transitional Council Minister of the Economy, Ahmad Salem al-Koshly, predicted massive influxes of foreign cash into the ashes of post-Civil War Libya.
Koshly insisted there was a thrilling amount of interest in “long-term” investment in Libya, and said that the country was counting on $1 trillion in foreign cash pouring into the nation to rebuild, from the West and from the Middle East.
How they’re going to court this much cash is unclear, with post-war Libya still far from stable, and fights between nominally pro-NTC factions breaking out on a near weekly basis, and analysts still predicting a second civil war breaking out along any number of factional lines.
Companies like Italy’s Eni and France’s Total SA may be salivating at the prospect of getting a share of Libya’s oil, but investment in Libya has historically been a very dicey proposition, and it is hard to see how the NTC could even theoretically guarantee the safety of foreign capital in the country when no one seems quite sure they’re ever going to be able to decisively rule the country at all.
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